Can-testing machine



(No Model.) s sheets-sheet 1.

W. H. SMYTH.

GAN TESTING MACHINE.

wrm WW N. persas. mmuwgnphw. wamingm. n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.V f W. E. SMYTH.

GAN TESTING MACHINE.

No. 394,664. Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

N. PEIIRS. Pme-mmm. www n.0

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. H. SMY'TH.

CAN TESTING MACHINE.

No. 394,664. Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

fig. 3 Mw @Mcm MSM N. PETERS. Phemulhognpmr. wnhinmn D c UNITED STATESPATENT OEEICE.

IYILLIAM H. SMYTH, OF BERKELEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE KING MORSE CANINGCOMPANY, OF SAN FRAXCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CAN-TESTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 394,664, datedDecember 18, 1888.

Application le. J une 16 1888.

T all whom t may concern:

Be it rknown that I, VILLIAM H. SMYTH, ot Berkeley, Alameda county,State of California, have invented an Improvement in Can Testers; and Ihereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

)Iy invention relates to a machine for determining whether the seams ofthe cans have been properly soldered before they have been iilled.

It consists of an inclined rotary table or carrier, into which the cansare placed, one

Vside of this carrier passing beneath the surl face of water in acontaining-tank, so that as the cans are carried beneath the waterescaping bubbles will indicate the leaky ones.

It consists, also,of a mechanism for discharging and drying cans, amechanism by which the defective cans may be separated from the goodones and discharged into another chute, and in certain details ofconstruction, all of which will be more fully explained by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical centralsection of my machine. side view showing the discharging device fordefective cans. Fig. L is a plan View of a part of the same. of part otthe discharging device.

Similar letters in each ot' the drawings indicate like parts.

A is a tank containing water, and B is a rotary carrier, the shaft oraxis C of which stands at such an incline that one side of the carrierdips beneath the surface of the water during its rotation, while theopposite side stands above and outside of the water-tank.

E is a vertical chute, into which the cans may be placed after they havebeen sealed.

F F are radial sections, the arms of which extend parallel with eachother outwardly from the inner hub of the carrier, these arms beingsuticiently separated, so that when they pass beneath the chute E a canwill drop into the space between them. The space between each of thesecan-containing sections is closed,

`so as to prevent the cans from falling be- Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig.3 is a 1.

Fig. 5 is a detached section Serial No. 277,364. (No model.)

l track or guide, upon which the cans rest upon 1 their sides in such aposition that thcirends f will stand centrally between the clamps II andI. The outerclamps, H, are in the form of disks which correspond inshape with the outer face l of the cans, and these disks are tiXed uponthe shafts of the gear-wheels J, so that when the gear-Wheels J arriveat the curved segmental rack K, which is beneath the surface ot' thewater in the tank, the gears, and with them the disks, Will be caused torotate, and as the cans are clamped between the outer and ini ner disksthey will also be caused to rotate. The inner disks, I, have theirshafts loosely journaled in the ends of the radial arms L, which extendoutwardly between the canguides otl the carrier, and these arms haverollers M upon their inner ends.

N is a stationary cam fixed around the shaft, about which the carrierrotates, and when the rollers .Il pass over this cani they and the armsL are forced outward, so that the disks I press against the inner endsot' the cans, thus clamping them between the outer and inner disks.These inner disks have elastic rubber plates I fixed upon them, andthese plates serve to stop the vent-holes l in the heads of the cans,and also to hold them with an elastic pressure between the inner andouter disks.

It will be seen by this construction that when the carrier is rotated byany suitable mechanism-such as a worm or other gea r-or by hand the canswill be carried beneath the surface of the water, and when the teeth ofthe gear engage with the curved rack the outer disks will be caused torotate, and as the inner ones turn loosely in the ends of the arms L itwill be manifest that the cans will continue to rotate while they arepassing beneath the surface of the water. It' any leaks occur in thecans, the escaping bubbles` of i vapor will show which cans aredefective. t Wfhen the cans have been carried by the carrier to thepoint where they are to be disl charged, the inner disks are retractedby reason of the shape of the cam, thus releasing the cans, and theydrop upon a spiral inclined chtite, O,whieh is inclosed and heated byany suitable means, as at P, Fig. 1, so as to dry i the cans. Those canswhich are perfect pass IOO ` suitable receptacle.

down the entire circumference of the chute O, and are discharged at thelower end into any In order to separate the defect-ive cans from thosewhich are good, I have constructed a supplemental track or chute, Q,Fig. 3, which is placed below the main chute O, and above thissupplemental track the floor of the main chute is hinged, so that it maybe dropped sufiiciently to allow a can to fall through from the mainchute upon the supplemental one. This hinged section R is moved by meansof` knee-levers S, which act upona connecting-rod, T, and through it thehinged section is depressed, so

that when the can reaches this point it will fall through, as beforedescribed.

The mechanism foreffectin g this movement is cont-rolled by a lever, U,within reach of the operator, and is employed whenever a defective canpasses into the main chute. The section of the main chute is immediatelyclosed after the discharge of the defective can or cans, so that thegood ones will be discharged at the lower end, as before described.

A lever, U, is connected with each of the can-carriers, and when a canis seen toibe defective the lever is turned to stand vertically, asshown in Fig. Its lowerend is thenY in position to pass over and engagethe' kneel levers S,which are thus depressed, and through the link T thesection R will be depressed to l. A can-tester consisting of awater-tank,

a rotating` carrier mounted at an incline therein, whereby during itsrotation one side of the carrier dips beneath the surface of thewater,while the opposite side stands above and outside of thewater-tank, and means forgrasping and holding the cans, comprisingclamping-disks and radial sections having separated arms between whichthe cans lie, substantially as herein described.

2. The co1nbination,with the water-tank, of a rotary carrier mounted onan inclined axis therein, whereby one side is `beneath the water and theopposite side outside of and above the water during the rotation of saidcarrier, clampinglisks at or n ear the periphery of the carrier, andradial sections having parallel spaced arms which receive the cans,substantially as herein described.

- The water-tank, the inclined rotary carrier therein, one edge of whichdips beneath the surface of the water, the exterior clamping-disks, II,and gears upon shafts which are journaled radially around the peripheryof This section may be4 the carrier, andthe segmental rack within thewater-tank, with which the gears engage,

so as to be rotated thereby, inY combinationY with the inner disks, I,lj ournaled in the ends Aof which the inner disks are journaled, and thecentral stationary cam, over which the 1n' ner ends of the arms L pass,and by which they are forced outward to clamp the cans -while they passthrough the tank, and are re tracted to releaseA them at the point ofdischarge, substantially as herein described.

5. The water-tank, the inclined rotary carrier with the clamping-disks,the gears, and segmental rack within the watertank, by which the gearsare rotated, in combination with the table or tracks upon which thecans' are delivered and by which they are supported in a desired lineuntil secured between the clamps, substantially as herein described. 6.The water-tank, the inclined carrier therein, having one side beneaththe water -and the other side above and outside of the water, the radialsections having spaced arms lfor the'cans, the vertical chutedischarging the cans-between said arms, and clamps by which the cans areseized and held, substantially as herein described.

7. The water-tank, the rotary inclined carrier, the clamps, mechanismfor closing the same upon the cans, and a mechanism whereby the cans arerotated beneath the surface of ithe water, carried to the point ofdischarge,

IOO

.IIO

and then released from the clamps, in combir nation with the incloseddischarge-chute and the means whereby said chute may be heated, so as todry the `cans, substantially as herein described.

8. The rotary inclined carrier, the watertank, into which one edge ofsaid carrier dips, the clamps, and mechanism whereby the cans are seizedand carried beneath the surface of the water, rotated therein, lcarriedout of the in combination with the supplement-al chute situated beneaththe first, a movable section I 2 O water, and delivered int-o thedischarge-chute,

-in the floor of the upper chute, and a lever A and connecting mechanismwhereby this section may be opened, so as to discharge any one or morecans into the lower chute, sub- A

